 2013 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS
BEST FEATURE
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Bernie
- Keep the Lights On
- Moonrise Kingdom
- Silver Linings Playbook
BEST DIRECTOR
- Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
- Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet
Read more on 2013 Independent Spirit Award Nominations…
Categories: News, Precursors Tags: Artist, Avalanche, Bone, CBS Films Productions Inc, Celeste Forever, Cinema Guild, Director, director and producer, director of non-fiction features, Docurama Films, Entertainment/Culture, Fill the Void, FILM (Award, Human Interest, IFC Films LLC, INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD, Jesse Forever, John Cassavetes, Marina Abramovic, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., Middle of Nowhere, Music Box Films, Once Upon a Time, Open Road Films, Oscilloscope Laboratories, Phase 4 Films Inc, Prince, Public Domain, ROBERT ALTMAN, Ruby Sparks, Rust, Soni Kabushiki Kaisha, STELLA ARTOIS TRUER, The Weinstein Company Holdings LLC, USD, Valley of Saints
The Sizing Up Series continues with a look at the slate of Best Supporting Actress contenders. As always, this is as large a grouping of the hopefuls as possible (excluding some no shot contenders and members of bigger ensembles…or else this could have 50 or more people in the article), categorizing them by their assumed likelihood of a nomination come the big morning. Oftentimes, more than a few of the Best Picture nominees wind up with some form of representation here, and this year I think there will be more than a little correlation, but of course absolutely anything is possible with the Academy. We shall see what happens in the end, but enough talk for the time being. I know what you’re all here for, so let’s go right ahead and take a look at the contenders for Best Supporting Actress and size up the field! Read more on Sizing Up: Best Supporting Actress…
Categories: Article Tags: Alicia Vikander, Amanda Seyfried, Amy Adams, analysis, Anne Hathaway, Annette Bening, Bella Heathcoate, Best Supporting Actress, Cate Blanchett, Charlize Theron, Cody Horn, Elizabeth Olsen, Emily Blunt, Emma Watson, Helen Hunt, Isabelle Hupert, judi dench, Julia Stiles, Kerry Bishe, Lorraine Toussaint, Marion Cotillard, olivia colman, Olivia Williams, Oscar hopefuls, Ruby Sparks, Sally Field, Scarlett Johansson, Sizing up, Sizing Up series
 It’s that time of the year again folks! The name of the game here is to make an early grouping of the hopefuls for all the main categories. Beginning with Best Picture and categorizing the contenders by their assumed chances. I’m not ashamed to admit that my success rate has been only decent with these in the past, but that kind of comes with the territory of Oscar prognostication and I’m hoping for a good showing this year. This time around I’m sticking with last year’s model of a larger slate than in previous years, which still has to do with the relative uncertainty that this year’s race has surrounding it again. For one thing, how many nominees will we ultimately have? Less than the 9 we had last year? How many films will actually be able to get the required amount of #1 votes to qualify for a nomination? All of this remains to be seen of course, but for now, I’ve tried to grab all the viable contenders for Best Picture and laid them out for you below. Lots can change between now and the nominations, but this is where I think things stand now at this current and precarious moment. At the very least, it’ll be interesting to see how this matches up to the eventual nominees (last year I correctly predicted 6 of the 9 eventual nominated films from the article).
Read more on Sizing Up: Best Picture…
Categories: Article Tags: analysis, Anna Karanina, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, best picture, Lincoln, Not Fade Away, Oscar, Oscar hopefuls, Ruby Sparks, Sizing Up series, The Cabin in the Woods, The Master, the New York Film Festival, The Promised Land, Timothy Green
- And…we’re back! Coming off a huge week with The Dark Knight Rises, you’d expect us to slow down at The Awards Circuit. Hah, not a chance! We began the week with some wrap-up thoughts on Christopher Nolan’s final film in his heavily acclaimed — although polarizing to some — Batman Trilogy. First up was Robert Hamer’s mixed review of The Dark Knight Rises, and while his was the lone review on the site that wasn’t effusively praising Nolan’s latest to the nth degree, he raised some very worthy points of contention that had many of our readers nodding their heads in agreement. The debate continued on in our most recent episode of “Power Hour,” where Robert found himself once again the odd man out when it came to his overall impression of The Dark Knight Rises. You have to admire his spirit and unequivocal passion for defending what he believes in and backing up his arguments with sound reasoning. As the longest podcast episode ever recorded thus far, this is perhaps our most lively one yet, so please…do yourself a favor…give it a listen! Also contained in the episode was the announcement of your ACCA 2000 Winners. Let’s just say that Darren Aronofsky is heavily admired on this site…heavily.
Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 7/29)…
Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 7/29)…
Categories: Circuit Round-Up Tags: anna belickis, Awards Circuit Power Hour, circuit 3, clayton davis, dancing with the stars, Daniel Ashtiany, Danny Boyle, Joey Magidson, joeys dvd pick of the week, John H. Foote, Joseph Braverman, Mark Johnson, Michael Ward, Robert Hamer, Ruby Sparks, stanley kubrick, Terence Johnson, TIFF, Toronto Film Festival
Prepare yourself for a very long month where The Dark Knight Rises will more than likely dominate the box office. Christopher Nolan’s final film in his acclaimed trilogy made an estimated $162 million last weekend, and is on track for a $75-$80 million intake for its second go-around. The only other major new release, The Watch, can best be summed up by this image:
No, ladies and gentlemen, that is not a Pokémon being released — though admittedly, that would certainly be a lot more entertaining than what this generic comedy-meets-science fiction romp will be offering us — but is instead an alien device that tries its best to bring cows back to movie relevancy a la the glory days of Twister. In other words, The Watch probably won’t offer you anything new that you haven’t already seen before in any comedy, science fiction, apocalyptic, Jonah Hill/Vince Vaughn/Ben Stiller movie. So why are moviegoers going to flock to this film? Because Jonah Hill is just so likeable and endearing, even when he physically assaults a woman in a department store (see: 21 Jump Street) and thinks silencing his mother means caressing his fingers over her lips (if this sounds as gross as it does, it’s because it is). Oh, it also has Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, and while they may be “So 5 Minutes Ago” as opposed to Jonah Hill’s “Currently Trending” status, plenty of film goers still can’t seem to get enough of these golden guys of comedy (okay, that came off harsher than I meant it to). The film may have a difficult time surpassing the $30 million mark this weekend, as the reviews so far have been predominantly damning. Opening in 3,168 locations, I’m projecting a soft yet not terrible $25 million debut. Richard Ayoade and Rosemarie DeWitt co-star alongside the comedic trio. Read more on Weekend Openings (July 27-29)…
Categories: Weekend Openings Tags: Ben Stiller, gina gershon, Jonah Hill, Killer Joe, Matthew McConaughey, Paul Dano, Richard Ayoade, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ruby Sparks, Step Up Revolution, the dark knight rises, The Watch, Vince Vaughn, William Friedkin, Zoe Kazan
 I had the privilege of being invited to represent The Awards Circuit at the “Ruby Sparks” New York Press Day, held at the Crosby Street Hotel in Lower Manhattan. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of this film, so I obviously jumped at the opportunity. The schedule had roundtable and 1 on 1 interviews arranged for directors Jonathan Dayton/Valerie Faris, star Paul Dano, and co-star/writer Zoe Kazan. I participated in all of the roundtables, and was able to secure 1 on 1 interviews with Dano, Dayton, and Faris. Unfortunately, Kazan was unavailable for 1 on 1. I think there’s some interesting tidbits found here, and it just highlights more an absolutely delightful movie. I chose to organize this article by the talent involved, since each were brought in to speak separately. I pulled out the best quotes and citations to share.
Read more on Talking “Ruby Sparks” with its Cast and Filmmakers…
 As beautiful a film as any that I’ve seen so far in 2012, ‘Ruby Sparks’ is a small miracle of a movie, and for a while my favorite of the year (I’d felt this way since I saw it back in June, but have been under embargo until now and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ has since just ever so slightly stolen that mantle, though in another week or so I might change my mind, so stay tuned there). A cross between the Greek myth of Pygmalion and the films ‘Harvey’ and ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’, there’s really nothing not to like about this flick, which features one of the most ingenious screenplays in years. Not only does this movie establish writer/star Zoe Kazan a future A-lister both in terms of acting (like I’ve been saying for a couple of years now) and writing, it also showcases filmmakers Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris escaping the sophomore jinx in spectacular fashion. For my money, this fantastical romantic fantasy is even better than ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ (which I loved). From the stellar direction by Dayton and Faris to the brilliant script by Kazan to the performances by Kazan and Paul Dano, nearly everything about this movie is flawless. Equal parts humorous, heartbreaking, and heartwarming, this has something for everyone. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be moved. I hope Oscar notices this little gem, as it’s worth of a few Academy Awards. I’ll be doing my part to raise awareness on the the film since frankly, it just deserves it.
Read more on Ruby Sparks (****)…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Alia Shawkat, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Chris Messina, Deborah Ann Woll, Early Review, Jonathan Dayton, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Oscar hopeful, Paul Dano, Ruby Sparks, Steve Coogan, Valerie Faris, Zoe Kazan
 I’m incredibly interested in ‘Ruby Sparks’, a film that marks the return of directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (of ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ fame) as well as the first screenplay from talented young actress Zoe Kazan (who also co-stars). The plot is kind of an indie take-off of ‘Weird Science’, but the trailer wowed me when it debuted a month or so ago. Now, we have the Poster to share with you today, and you can see it after the jump. I think it’s pretty interesting looking and fits in with the odd vibe of the film so far. Take a look below, and stay tuned for more on this flick!
Read more on Behold the Poster for Ruby Sparks!…
 Penned by actress Zoe Kazan, ‘Ruby Sparks’ (formerly titled ‘He Loves Me’) is shaping up to be one of my most anticipated releases of 2012. I’m a fan of Kazan as an actress so far in her career and always like to give a chance to an actor or actress that steps behind the scenes. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the premise for this romantic dramedy is one that seems downright delightful to me. Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris of ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ fame, this story of a writer (Paul Dano) who manifests his dream girl (Kazan) into existence now has a trailer that you can see after the jump. For my money, it’s one of the better trailers of the year so far, but you can be the judge of that yourself below…
Read more on A charming Trailer for ‘Ruby Sparks’!…
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2013 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS
